Introducing the biggest leap yet in BlackBerry evolution — the Torch.
World premier BlackBerry in slider form factor with touchscreen plus QWERTY keyboard and optical trackpad
BlackBerry 6 OS with all-new browser featuring tabbed browsing for access to multiple web pages at the same time and pinch-to-zoom capability
First BlackBerry with next-generation messaging including group messaging for up to 10 people and locations
Social networking feed application for one view of all your favorite sites such as Facebook®, Twitter™, and MySpace®
Integrated search from home screen
5 MP camera with flash, autofocus, and environment settings
Latest Wi-Fi “N” network support (Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n) for home, office, and on the nation’s fastest 3G network with more than 20,000 AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spots nationwide
What is BlackBerry?
The most exceedingly common observation about the Torch is that it’s very much still a BlackBerry. Despite the gloss-speckled new BlackBerry 6 software, despite the retro-quirky slider anatomy, it’s a BlackBerry. Well, what is a BlackBerry?
BlackBerry, in the beginning, was a glorified two-way pager. It’s slowly evolved from that decade-old core into what it is today. Like Microsoft Office, a lot of people might use it at home, but it’s mostly designed for its corporate base. What BlackBerry tends to be good at, and what BlackBerry users love about them clearly exposes those corporate-tinged roots: well-designed hardware keyboards, push email (routed through RIM’s servers), BlackBerry Messenger (a robust, addictive BlackBerry-to-BlackBerry instant messaging service), communications security and encryption (see: Obama, Saudi Arabia, UAE). What it’s not been good at: basically everything else. I mean, if you want to highlight the philosophical difference between RIM and say, Apple, consider that RIM CEO Mike Lazaridis brags about how carriers love BlackBerrys because they conserve bandwidth, while Apple told AT&T to screw itself when the carrier suggested making the YouTube app less awesome for users by eating less data.
When you see that for the first time since 2007 BlackBerry is not the top-selling smartphone platform in the US, RIM’s looming problem seems a lot loomier. The Torch and BlackBerry 6 are RIM’s effort to avoid the same kind of fate Windows Mobile suffered by ignoring regular people and leaning too much on corporate IT departments to keep them in business, especially when Apple and Google are making inroads into the workplace.
That’s a lot of context to swallow, but understanding the DNA and RIM’s incipient existential angst is the only way to understand the Torch: It’s like Two Face, but even less focused. Is BlackBerry 6 a touchscreen OS? A trackpad and keyboard OS? Mostly for business users? Regular people? It’s not quite sure, and the results can be pretty messy. The psychological split is real, and its imprint dominates nearly every aspect of the phone. FWIW, I’m looking at the phone purely from the role of a consumer—if your boss or IT department is handing you the phone, it’s not like you’ve got a choice anyway. Just thank them for giving you this one.
This seems only good for people who carry around two phones. This one would be used for business and another brand would be used for personal use.
Or it’s just for people who simply don’t care about better graphics, apps and games. One who just uses their phone for calls, texts, and emails.
I just don’t understand why someone else (who does a little bit of research) would want to buy this when there are better phones out there.
I never did get into the thumb keyboard thing from Blackberry. I had one for a month, and had my provider replace it with a basic phone. I jumped onboard the Apple train a couple years ago when other business friends showed me how easy, intuitive their iphones were. I used the 3G for two years, and now have the 4G. I’ve enjoyed them both. There are occasional dropped calls, but who’s at fault, me or the other cell phone I’m talking too. My son has the hot new Android that everyone is touting, and he has problems with application freeze, need to reboot, and dropped calls too. For me, the simplicity of the user experience with the Apple universe drew me into the fold, and now keeps me there. All my electronics “talk to one another,” with very little effort and a short learning curve. Wow that’s what electronics are supposed to do.